Shooting struggles overcame the Panther girls basketball team last week, as they fell to No. 5 Lyman 55-32 on Friday and 47-20 to Mountain View on Saturday.

LYMAN 55, POWELL 32

A tough matchup met the Panthers (7-12 overall, 1-3 3A Northwest) on Friday, as they hosted Lyman (17-3 overall, 3-1 3A Southwest).

The game started out with mixed results for Powell, with four early free throw misses, but the Panthers trailed just 6-4 with 4:38 left thanks to baskets from junior Megan Jacobsen.

Lyman did create a small amount of breathing room to end the quarter, holding a 16-7 lead going into the second.

The Panthers continued to shoot well from the field but struggled from the free throw line. A Jacobsen basket made it 22-12 midway through the quarter.

“Not knocking down free-throws is a momentum buster, and you will slowly see the other team build their lead, where in the Lyman game, we could have been down single digits and
keeping it a few point game at half,” Panther head coach Chelsea Buher said.

On the defensive end, the Panthers did not have the answer for Eagle junior Sage Bradshaw as she poured in 17 of her game high 19 points in the first half to give Lyman a 34-17 lead at half.

Powell struggled early in the third quarter, being held scoreless until junior Maddie Campbell hit a layup at the 3:27 mark. At that point, the Panthers trailed 42-17.

Lyman continued to score and took a 51-24 lead into the fourth quarter.

After Lyman made it 52-32, both teams decided to put in their backups to play the rest of the way as Lyman finished with a 55-32 win.

Sophomore Kenzie Ratcliff led the way for the Panthers off the bench as she finished with 11 points.

The Panthers shot 43% from the field but were 0-of-11 from the free throw line as a team.

MOUNTAIN VIEW 47, POWELL 20

The final southwest opponent for the Panthers on Saturday was the Mountain View Lady Buffaloes (13-6 overall, 3-1 3A Southwest).

Neither team was able to find a lot of scoring early, as the Panthers trailed 8-6 heading into the second quarter, again struggling from the free throw line.

Mountain View came out with a purpose to attack the rim, putting that effort into the second quarter to extend their lead to 18-10. 

After entering into the bonus in the first quarter, Mountain View only committed one foul in the second quarter and Powell trailed 22-10 at halftime.

The Panthers came out of the break with a renewed defensive focus, as they held Mountain View scoreless for a large portion of the third quarter. Despite the defensive effort and finding open shots, the Panthers were unable to capitalize, as they continued to trail 22-13.

“I thought we did a better job of moving the ball around and getting good, open shots, but we just struggled to convert,” Buher said.

Powell trailed 29-16 heading into the fourth quarter, which belonged to Mountain View. The Lady Buffaloes continued to find favorable matchups and outscored Powell 18-4 in the final quarter to cap a 47-20 win.

The Panthers finished shooting 18% from the field and 4-of-11 from the free throw line. They will look to regroup heading into their final conference games.

“I don’t feel as though any of the teams are unbeatable for us,” Buher said. “When we are clicking on all cylinders, we can compete with the best of them.”

FINAL WEEKEND

Powell will have one final regular season game at home on Friday. The Panthers will take on Lovell (13-7 overall, 1-3 3A Northwest), attempting to sweep the Bulldogs in conference play.

The Panthers will then head to Lander (15-3 overall, 4-0 3A Northwest) on Saturday for their final regular season game, as they try to secure the No. 3 seed at next weekend’s regional tournament.

“We will put a lot of focus on ourselves to hopefully get ourselves playing our best basketball in the next couple of weeks,” Buher said. “Our girls are resilient and will come back stronger after these last couple of tough weekends.”

LYMAN 55, POWELL 32

Points — Kenzie Ratcliff 11, Maddie Campbell 8, Megan Jacobsen 8, Waycee Harvey 5

Rebounds — Harvey 6, Campbell 4, Jacobsen 4, Catelynn Floy 3, Saige Kidd 2, Lauryn Bennett 2, Gretel Opps 2, Kaili Wisniewski 1, Blake Nissen 1

Assists — Campbell 3, Harvey 2, Floy 2, Jacobsen 2, Wisniewski 1, Ratcliff 1

MOUNTAIN VIEW 47, POWELL 20

Points — Harvey 6, Jacobsen 4, Campbell 3, Kidd 3, Ratcliff 3, Floy 1

Rebounds — Kidd 8, Campbell 3, Floy 3, Jacobsen 3, Harvey 2, Bennett 1

Assists — Floy 2, Campbell 1